Andrea/Duck Dodgers here. I friendly welcome every fan of animation at my blog. The goal is to support the love and rediscovery of Classic Theatrical Cartoons from the Golden Age of Animation, keeping meanwhile an eye on Golden Age "Funny Animals" Comics as well as on modern animated productions! Every SUPPRESSED ethnic caricature to be sometimes presented here is just for HISTORICAL and EDUCATIONAL purpose and NOT to offend anyone. Stay Tooned and Enjoy the place !

Tuesday, January 03, 2006

The 100 Greatest Cartoons of All Times : Post 1

Starting from today , I'm going to open a new kind of posts . There will be the usual posts about rare , virtually unfindable cartoons as well as my " eye on modern cartoons and TV animated series " ( such as Spumco cartoons ). There will also be reviews on cartoons and on dvds .BUT , starting from today , there will also be a series of posts devoted to them classic theatrical cartoons which I presume being the greates ones ever made . I compiled a list of 100 titles , which is obviously subject to changes . Anyway , when a cartoon will be posted here under the category " The 100 Greatest Cartoons of All Time " , it will mean that it have found his definitive place in my list .

The cartoons will be posted with no particular order ( this means that " Kitty Kornered " is neither the first or the last of my list , it is only one of the animated shorts that I consider among the 100 greatest cartoons ).

I will also appreciate all your opinion and thoughts about these cartoons : if you do not consider them some of the best cartoons ever made or if you agree with my choices , your comments , opinion , questions . Any post will be appreciated .

Now , let's talk about " Kitty Kornered " .

As a director , Clampett reached his highest point in 1946 , a year in which he directed some all-time classics like " Book Revue " , " The Great Piggy Bank Robbery " and " Kitty Kornered " .

Try to imagine what would have been a Tweety-Sylvster cartoon directed by Clampett ! As pointed before , Tweety , in Clampett 's hands , was a wild and energetic character , same thing for Sylvester . However , while Tweety was a Clampett's creation , Sylvester was created the year before by Freleng ( in the AAN " Life with Feathers " ) . Clampett made some little changes to the character ' s visual aspect ( Sylvester's clownesque red nose turned black ) and some great changes to the character 's personality , developing the feline into another of the incredibly wild Clampettian characters .

But " Kitty Kornered " , dominated by the presence of Sylvester and his feline friends , is essentially a Porky Pig cartoon . The porcine actor losed a considerable part of popularity among both audience and WB staff due to the explosion of Daffy Duck and , expecially , of Bugs Bunny . Anyway , both Clampett and Tashlin continued to direct many cartoons in the Forties starring Porky , which remained a friendly figure around whom a great cartoon can easily be built ( the same thing was valid for other stars like Mickey Mouse and Andy Panda that , like Porky , losed in the 40s much of their appeal with audiences in favor of more popular characters , namely Donald Duck and Woody Woodpecker ) .

In this cartoon , Porky is the unlucky owner of a bunch of wacky cats that refuse to spend the night outside the house . In a marvellous sequence Porky tries to put the cats out and they run wildly trought the house , hiding in every place , including the mousehole and even the fish bowl ( " Henry , there's somebody in the house " ) . This great sequence is also highlighted by great takes and phisical distortions , trademarks of Clampett's unit .

After trying to not be kicked out of the house , the cats try everything in their power to go out , when Porky asks the help of his dog Lassie ( actually is just a shadow trick made possible by Porky's ability ) . Out in the cold , Sylvester plans a way to conquer the house again . To the tune of " Angel in Disguise " the cats disguise themselves as aliens ( looking not unlike the gremlin in another Clampett short , "Falling Hare ") and induce Porky to believe that Martians are landing on Earth . This charming moment is actually a spoof of Orson Welles' famous radio trick that terrorized the nation not much time before this cartoon was made .

Then , dressed a là Teddy Roosevelt ( " Chaaargee ! " ) , they finally have the house all for themselves . In fact , at the end of the cartoon , is Porky to be out in the cold !

Why I consider this cartoon one of the greatest ever made ? The answer is a multiple one . First of all , it stars one of my favorite ham actor , the stuttering pig of our hearts . Also , as in the majority of the best cartoons , the plot is to a minimum , but the gags are in an incredible number and are also brilliantly executed . This animated short features also animation at his best ( Clampett's unit was the best one working at WB troughout the 40s . ) , work of talented guys like Rod Scribner , and marvellous great voice characterizations by the inimitable Mel Blanc .

This cartoon is available , fully restored , on the " Looney Tunes Golden Collection " volume two . If you still have not bought that set , do yourself a favor and buy it . You'll not only find this masterpiece but a considerable number of other classic , which in the future will be objects of posts under " The 100 Greatest Cartoons of All Times " category in this blog .

hey everyone, I have one BIG problem.I watched one movie, about 3-4 years, and I don't know the name of the movie, is about some kid, like hi find some broke robot, bla bla bla, then the millitary try's to kill the robor, bla bla bla, and they failed, i don't know i forgot,maybe one of you can say me what is the name of tht cartoon.Forgive me on my english. :P ...